New Music: An Interview With The Antics

The Antics are a 4 piece Alternative Rock band who have taken the New Jersey scene by storm with their diverse and intricate melodies. I was lucky enough to have an interview with Luke Meisenbacher, the lead vocalist and guitarist of the band. Here he talks about what inspires the song writing process, what it was like recording for their debut album, as well as what’s to come!

Starting off with a little history about the band. When and how did the band form? And how did the name ‘The Antics’ come about? Is there a story there?
Josh and I (Luke) started the band in 2010 when we were sophomores in high school. Once we got a guitarist and a bassist we became Swimming with Piranhas, but we eventually changed it to The Antics because we wanted something a little simpler. Not much of a story, more of a “we just thought of it” situation.

What would be a strange or weird fact about the band that not many people know?

Derek, Kyle, and Josh listened to primarily metal before joining the band.

Listening to your music, it sounds like you draw influences from a wide range of places! Who would you say that as a band your main influences are? Who would you compare yourselves to?
Although our musical taste varies a bit from person to person, a lot of our influence comes from garage rock, post-punk, and surf rock. We like bands like The Strokes, The Hives, Joy Division, The Smiths, Echo and the Bunnymen, Television, The Doors, and stuff like that.

Is there one song in particular, by any existing band or artist, that as a band you wish you’d written and why?
There are definitely a lot. I can’t think of any songs in particular but I know that often we want to cover a song and pretend that we wrote it. I guess that’s how you become influenced by certain music.

I’ve heard some pretty horrific stories from bands about their first live shows, what was your first ever-live show like?
Our first live show was actually a pretty good experience. Our guitarist at the time’s father hooked us up with a gig at a bar and we opened for a wedding band. We played a lot of covers, but we were only 15 and 16. We didn’t have a name, or a bassist but with all that considered, we had a very supportive crowd.

What’s been the best show you’ve ever played and why?
Probably when we opened for Bow Wow Wow in early March. They’re the biggest band we’ve ever opened for and we played in front of the biggest crowd we’ve ever had.

Any funny band/live show stories you wouldn’t mind sharing?
At the high school talent show, I decided to slide at the end of our set, except I didn’t realize that the cable had no slack. I ended up ripping the cable and the connector was still in the amp. This is all on video too. (We’ll have to find this video)

Is there anything in particular that inspires you when you are writing the music and lyrics to your songs?
As the main songwriter, I just write what sounds good to my ear. It really depends what mood I’m in. Sometimes I start a song by giving myself a theme such as “write in the key of E minor” or “try to vary rhythm as much as possible”. This prevents the songs from sounding too much alike.

You debut album, Running Faster, is out and I have to say I’m a big fan of it! What was it like recording for it?
First off, thanks so much for your kind words and I am glad you are a fan. The recording process was very hectic! We recorded it over a long period of time, with little time in the studio. Although we produced it ourselves, at the time we didn’t have the equipment to do the actual recording ourselves, which would have been better because we could have spent more time on it. All in all, this is why the album has a very under-produced DIY sound, which some people like a lot and some people don’t.

What do you want people to take away from listening to the album?

We hope that people can relate to our music.It would be cool to know that our music helped lift someone out of a dark time.It is known by all, that music can be a really good type of therapy.

If you could choose any bands to go on tour with, i.e. a dream line up/dream team; who would they be and why?
We’d love to play with The Strokes and The Hives because both are bands are extremely good live, and we have a lot of respect for them for pioneering the whole retro-influenced indie movement in the 2000’s. They’ve proved that you can still be popular and make a living without selling out.

Finally. What do you hope the rest of 2013 brings for the band? Anything in store for your fans?
We want to do some sort of a tour, and we will be working on our next album. It isn’t very clear as of now, but exciting things will definitely happen soon so stay tuned